


The Ones we Rely on

by Nebulapaws



Series: Spidey One-shots [3]
Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Anxiety, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Gen, Major Character Injury, Musical References, Panic! at the Disco References, Pop Culture, Slight Cursing, aka the songs lmao, japanese words, so spoilers I guess, sorta?, this is from the movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 09:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17847110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebulapaws/pseuds/Nebulapaws
Summary: She'll bedamnedif she dies like this. she'll die in the service of her people, die in the service of her own world, not die pinned down against a building, defenceless and off guard.





	The Ones we Rely on

**Author's Note:**

> this is a character study for Peni, but ho ly was it a bitch to write?? mostly because I forgot what happened near the end. I guess It'll be a blessing for me to get that movie huh?
> 
> Edit;; ao3 was being stupid and tagged it as Peni x Noir and hhhh thanks a03

**_< initiating track: Crazy = Genius Panic! At the disco >_ **

_You can set yourself on fire, you can set yourself on fire_

“I think they know we’re here!” she didn’t know who shouted it, but they were right. Because blasts began to shower them, and Peni quickly jumped away, along with the rest of the spiders.

Her spidey senses had alerted her to this event before that warning, but she still needed confirmation. This entire situation was way too dangerous for her liking. She didn’t like knowing if they failed, they could all die, and she’d never get to see her home again.

Her Spider reminded her that she’s not alone.

**_She said at night in my dreams, you dance on a tightrope of weird,_ **

**_oh but when I wake up you're just so normal that you just disappear._ **

**_you're so straight like commuters with briefcases toeing the line._ **

**_There's no residue of torture inside your eyes._ **

 “ _we’ll cover you!”_

Peni jumped in front of Noir, she took too many blasts. But they were all so weak _._ They felt like feathers tickling her skin. She wanted to protect her new friends, help them and save them. She’s sure she could sense inner turmoil in Noir’s movements as if he wants to stay and protect her, help her. But he leapt away, giving her one last look.

Good. she doesn’t need help, and she doesn’t need convincing. She’ll protect her friends. _She’ll protect her people._

**_And I said, (hey ay)_ **

**_If crazy equals genius, (hey ay ay}_ **

**_If crazy equals genius,_ **

**_Then I’m a fucking arsonist. (hey)_ **

_**I’m a rocket scientist. (hey hey)** _

She was smart, quick and diligent. Mentally stable? Not even close. _And I’m sure if dad didn’t die when I was 9, then I’d still end up being this way._ Her childhood was ripped away, ripped away by the death of a man she never knew.

She never knew her own _father_.

_**If crazy equals genius, (hey)** _

_**You can set yourself on fire, (hey ay)** _

_**But you’re never gonna burn burn burn (hey ay)** _

Peni tried to defend herself from the incoming barrage of attacks, but she couldn’t _._ Scorpion’s tail dug straight into the glass in front of her, and she steeled herself for the worst to come, for that tail to dig right into her neck, to kill her. She let out a yell of indignation.

She looked up, to see words written on just about every panel of SP//dr.

“警告”

_Warning._

_**she said darlin' you know how wine plays tricks on my tongue,**  
_

_**but you dont seem to change as you stuff all your feelings with drugs.**  
_

She’s a genius. A genius who _isn’t going to be taken down so easily._ A genius who fought hard only to get thrown into another world. She was going to die a soldier for her people, just like her father before her. She’ll make some noise, too.

And only the good kind.

She’ll be _damned_ if she reaches terminal failure not serving her own people.

Scorpion was thrown off SP//dr, just like the music, the calming tune she had settled into, cut off abruptly. She heard some noise outside SP//dr, but her first instinct was to check SP//dr’s processors and make sure her companion is ok.

 _Always so afraid to lose control of the thing you care about most in the world._  

She shook those thoughts off, downloaded all her intel from this universe into a goober, hid it in her bag, and leapt out of SP//dr. Her heart was heavy, and her lungs felt like they were full of mucus. Her chest felt as tight as a spring, but she grabbed the arm of SP//dr that had been torn off.

She hadn’t felt _this_ angry before. And she wasn’t even sure it was her kind of tune. But right now, it would have to do.

Just when Scorpion flew her way, she swung SP//dr’s arm with such anger and force, she almost felt all the heaviness in her body seem to fall into that swing. It knocked him out.

_Good, stay that way._

She saw Ham blow Scorpion a raspberry, but she could barely hear anything right now. Maybe she could her the residual beats of her music she had been playing, but that was about it. Only the faint ghost of what used to be. She turned around slowly, feeling tears prick at the corner of her eyes.

The heaviness in her body slowly melted away into an inconsolable sadness.

She watched somberly as SP//dr sparked and died. A single piece of text played on its face broke her heart even more than it already was.

“愛”

Love.

It was an obvious message. “ _I love you_ ”

Peni felt fat tears roll down her cheeks. She wanted to scream, cry. Maybe both. _I-I love you too…_

She knew she should feel lucky for not dying, she should feel lucky that her friends were there for her, but she just couldn’t find the thankfulness. She couldn’t find any feeling other than a sombre cold feeling, that she wanted to burn and bury under 6 feet of dirt. But she couldn’t. It felt like a black hole.

She felt a ghost of feeling on her shoulder. She turned around.

She was greeted by the Somber look of Ham, and Noir's expressionless face. She imagined he was also trying his best to convey feelings to her. But she couldn’t quite tell right now.

She turned around and padded over to the sparking corpse of her best friend. Hoping-- _praying--_ that her spider was ok. That her spider was alive, and well, and wasn’t killed. The faint buzz of her bond was completely rattled out by all the noise, all the panic of the Super Collider situation, so she couldn’t just tell right there.

Thankfully, her Spider trilled in her mind. Something of comfort, something of kindness. It was so loud that she could hear it oh so clearly. And she leaned in the comfort as the spider slowly crept on her arm. She felt a faint phantom of steps on her arm as the spider found a perch on her shoulder, and rested there.

“Ready to go kitten?”

She nodded, a little less somberly this time.

**_You can set yourself on fire (hey ay)_ **

**_but you'll never learn, learn, learn, hey!_ **

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed!!!! Comments and Kudos bring me life


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